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School was for me a conglomeration of fun, torture, joy, sorrow, teenage crushes on student-teachers, rugby, math classes and biology. It went fast and left me with memories and lessons that have stayed with me for life.

When Rtd. General Olusegun Obasanjo, who as a military President had ruled Nigeria from 1976 to 1979, was imposed again on Nigerians for another run on the political leadership of the country, most were willing to give him benefit of doubt.

It is 2.53 PM on a sunny Friday afternoon in Lagos, I’m seating at my desk thinking of what to do about lunch. Should I send Richard (aka Pastor) to Tetrazzini to buy their jollof rice, moi-moi and chicken or should I brave the lunch time Lagos island traffic for a short journey to Yellow Chili? As I pondered my options, I remembered that it has been a while since I last wrote an opinion piece. They say if you leave writing, writing leaves you. 45 days is a long time in this our business not to have written something. I have been feeling so ashamed of myself having not logged onto my blog (thelongharmattanseason.blogspot) in ages, talk about not wanting to visit a deserted house.

To ensure that we are all on the same page on the subject of middle class, it is important to attempt an explanation of the phrase ‘middle class’ in the Nigerian context. The reason being that the phrase which was popular in Nigeria in the seventies, and probably the early eighties may not mean so much to today’s generation, who go by other social group names and classifications including YUPPIES (an acronym for young, urban and upwardly mobile professionals).